My ankle story part 2: The operation.

So the big day has arrived. I’m very nervous. It will be my second operation in my life. But first i will take you a little back in time. To my preoperative appointments.

So before you undergo any surgery you have a appointment with a anesthetist. You talk about the kind of medication they will use in the surgery. The two big options are total sleep or a spinal puncture. Depending on what needs to be done, you have a choice. But not always. My first surgery was to remove a little lump out of my breast. Thankfully was it benign. But because it’s high up in the body you will get a complete sleep. But for my ankle operation we decided on a spinal puncture. With an extra pain block in my knee. And i get a little sleep drug to not hear the surgery. This is not the same as the complete sleep. With that you need to recover longer and you will be disoriented and feeling like you need to vomit when you are in the recovery room. The little sleep that i got, they wake you up within a minute. And it’s just like you wake up in the morning. Total with a clear head. And general thing is you need to have a empty stomach on the operation day. What means no food from midnight and clear drinks till two hours before surgery. So water, sports drinks, lemonade, tea and coffee. Coffee only with sugar but no milk. I don’t drink it anyway but found it a weird exception on a clear drink.

My operation stood planned at 13.00. Needed to be there at 10.00 to get checked in. They ask general health questions that you get also an the anesthetist appointment. There will be a arrow on the leg to make sure the right leg will be operated. You need to give a contact up. In my case it was my dad. And the questions: What’s your name/birthday and what are we gonna operate will be asked a lot. To make sure they do have the right person. My actual operating time became 11.00 so much earlier than planned. So taken to a room to get my needle in the arm. This is for giving me medication during surgery. There where 3 tries in both hands. Not fun at all. Pretty painful. Because i am on blood thinning medicine, I get bruises very quick. Took more than a week to recover and still i can see the puncture points. Thankfully there was help with the fourth try. Imagene a men singing opera while stinging you. Because of all my nerves i was laughing and didn’t feel it much. So next up was the knee block. That was also a hassel. Three tries it was again with a needle. Using a kind of ultrasound machine they use on pregnant woman too. Not sure if it was exactly the same machine but worked also with gel. And gave a look inside my knee. Because the knee block could not be placed perfectly it will not work as long as it should.

So rolled after all this in the next room. Here in the room before the actually operating room i meet my trauma chirurg thats will fix my ankle. Again the 3 questions to verify i am the right person. And eventually i get my spinal puncture. Another needle with another bruise on my body. As i lay on my back again i get the little sleep medicine in my infuse in my hand. And i am sleeping. While i sleep the cast on my leg is removed and ankle fixed with 9 metal screws and a plate. To make sure it sits the right way. Them are my tendons checked and closed up again. And got a cast right away. When i woke up i saw them do it. Pretty weird is it to see your leg up in the air and not feel it.

I had to stay overnight in the hospital. One reason was that my pain medication post-operation was not easy to manage. The second reason was a leaking cast. The cast had leaked blood. This is pretty normal but still gross. The nurse draw a outline to see if it was getting bigger. Luckily it didn’t. Had a night from hell! So much pain that i almost wished the leg was gone. The regular dose of pain medicine didn’t work. So in the middle of the night the staff member that cared for me called the attending doctor. Mind you it was 02.00 and i was sooo tired. First was checked if i was faking it. Because unfortunately people do that. Definitely not the case with me. So he checked the cast also if it was too tight. Imagine taking a huge scissors to cut it open. The foot part on top. Unfortunately it did not make the pain less. To get the heavier pain medicine i needed to wait 30 minutes. Basically a half hour from hell! After i got it. I finally noticed it working. So i could sleep! A full 2,5 hours. Then they woke me up at 7.00 to check my temperature and blood pressure. So youre ready for the shift change of the doctors. By 7.30 – 8.00 they do their rounds.

When it was 09.00 i was taken to get a new cast. My dad came with a wheelchair and to keep me company. When visiting hour was done. The physio therapist came to check my walking sticks skills. And to learn me how to walk with walking sticks up a staircase. And my next visator was a nurse to explain all the medication i needed at home. So parents came at 16.00 to pick me up. Inside the hospital still, picked up the medicine at the pharmacy. And home sweet home.

These two days were very exhausting. And hope everything heels good and as fast as possible.

*Picture above is not my real ankle. Not sure if i want to post the real pictures. Maybe in the future.